According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms, piping describes the hissing or sizzling noise made by very hot food taken from an oven. The earliest recorded use of the phrase was in The Miller’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer: “And wafres, pipyng hoot out of the gleede” (And cakes, piping hot out of the fire) [1]. (You can find a free copy of this at Project Gutenberg.)
Examples of use:
“And of course, nothing says a Burns Night supper party menu like mounds of piping hot haggis and tatties - it’s what Rabbie would have wanted.”
“With clean hands, crush the tofu between your fingers into the pan (or mash it in with a potato masher) and cook for a few minutes more, until it’s piping hot and well mixed with the other ingredients.”
“When it arrived, the lasagne was piping hot with the perfect amount of cheese, four pasta layers, smoky bacon and mince, and it tasted delicious.”
[1] “piping” in Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms, edited by Ayto, John. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Photo credit: Edsel Little
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